City of Modesto, California News Release

Modesto City Council to Consider Modesto Courthouse Project

After years of planning, numerous hours of deliberation and intensive negotiations, the Modesto Courthouse Project site agreement will come before the Modesto City Council for consideration on Tuesday, April 15.This momentous step comes on the heels of the Court Facilities Advisory Committee voting to endorse continued negotiations for the preferred site bounded by G and H Streets and 9th and 10th Streets (10th Street Site).

The City Council will be asked to consider purchase agreements for privately-owned parcels, transferring parcels owned by the former Redevelopment Agency to the City of Modesto, packaging the entire site (both private and City-owned parcels) for sale to the State of California, as well as alley abandonment on the site.

“This is an incredible milestone in the journey to have a much needed new courthouse facility in Downtown Modesto,” said Modesto Mayor Garrad Marsh.“Either site identified for this project would have been great for the Modesto economy – and we are pleased about the selection of the 10th Street Site.All-in-all, we are excited about this project and what it will do for Downtown Modesto.”

The Administrative Office of the Courts, which is the staff agency of the Judicial Council of California, is proposing a new courthouse for the Superior Court of Stanislaus County to be located in Downtown Modesto at the 10th Street Site.This new courthouse will serve the critical purpose of providing the public with a modern, secure, integrated, and efficient court facility in downtown Modesto.

“The acquisition of the 10th Street property is a significant milestone in bringing to our community a modern courthouse that will provide a safe and secure facility for all our court users,” said Stanislaus County Superior Court Facilities Chair Judge Jack Jacobson. “We are excited to proceed with the design and planning phases of this project.”

The proposed new courthouse will be approximately 300,000 square feet, with 26 courtrooms, and will replace seven facilities.The cost of the new courthouse is $278 million.The project is funded by Senate Bill 1407, which finances critically needed courthouse construction through judicial branch fees, penalties, and assessments, without impact on the state’s General Fund.In July 2010, the State Public Works Board approved the new Modesto Courthouse Project for initial funding and ranked the project in the “immediate” need category.